48 hours in Kyoto, the best summary of its essential attractions

To begin with, when is the best time to go to Kyoto?

Without a doubt, between the months of April and November.

That is to say, spring with the blossoming of the cherry trees and autumn, with the incredible palette of colors created by thousands of maples and ginkgo biloba planted in its forests and gardens.

Usually, the cherry blossoms start to bleach in the Kyoto area around the third week of April.

And autumn usually reaches its splendor in the second half of November, although climate change is altering everything.

Then you have to understand its urban structure.

The Japanese city has a grid planimetry and rises between two parallel mountain ranges.

To the east is Higashiyama.

To the west, Arashiyama.

Both have been for centuries sacred slopes where temples, sanctuaries and imperial residences have grown.

Two places full of Unesco world heritage sites to which you would have to dedicate not two, but 20 days to get to know them in depth.

But we don't have that much time, so let's start our route.

More information

These are the requirements to travel to Japan, which is once again the same traveler-friendly destination it was before the pandemic

First day

Let's start, for example, in the south of Higashiyama, where the Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist temple, the temple of pure water, is located.

A complex of buildings with a beautiful structure belonging to the Edo period (17th century) surrounded by a forest that is now dressed in an intense red in autumn and with a clear view over the valley where Kyoto is located.

Kiyomizu-dera is one of the most famous sites in Kyoto and is usually packed with visitors, so it's a good idea to start there and very early.

From there I would go down the Sannen-zaka path, a set of alleys where traditional Japanese architecture is preserved, although totally gentrified: everything is

and restaurants for tourists.

And I would continue to Kodai-ji, a delightful temple surrounded by gardens and tea houses and illuminated at night in spring and autumn.

Next stop, always heading north: Maruyama-koen Park, with its beautiful flower beds, lake and bridges.

A space that sponges the monumental density of Higashiyama and that is very convenient to stop and eat at one of the nearby street food kiosks or restaurants.

Then, I would visit the nearby Chion-in shrine, seat of the Jodo sect of Buddhism, with its monumental gateway, or the small and ornamental Shoren-in.

After dark, you can go down to Gion, the

neighborhood , another area of ​​traditional houses with ground floors and curved eaves, one of the few that still reflect how old imperial Kyoto must have been.

A clarification: yes, in Kyoto there are still

professional

and

His life is not like that of the protagonist of the movie

, but their function remains the same as it has been for centuries: to entertain with traditions of Japanese arts and music at social gatherings and events for which they are hired.

And they are fed up with tourists chasing them through the streets of Gion when they enter or leave a venue.

So much so that the City Council has prohibited taking photos in the streets most frequented by these professionals.

Ponto Chō, an alley barely three meters wide full of 'izakayas' in the city of Kyoto.Paco Nadal Yuste

There may still be time to do some shopping on Shijo Dori, Kyoto's great commercial artery.

The busiest section runs from Karasuma Street to the entrance of Maruyama Park in Gion.

And to end a long but fruitful day, a dinner at Ponto Chō, an alley barely three meters wide, parallel to the Kamo River, between the bridges on Shijo and Sajo streets, which houses the largest concentration of

(traditional taverns) .

)

and restaurants in the city.

If you are able to isolate yourself from the hundreds of other customers who like you are looking for a table in one of them, you will find yourself transported a thousand years back.

Second day

This day also promises to be long and dense, but you have to take advantage of it.

So very early we take the JR line to Inari station, in the south of Kyoto, to access before the hordes of groups and schools that usually flood it to Fushimi Inari, the sanctuary of the god of business and rice.

What makes this ancient sanctuary different are the thousands of

(wooden arches that serve as a portico to the sacred precincts) that are displayed along the four kilometers of paths that go from the main altar to the top of Mount Inari. .

This was always a suggestive place, but since it appeared in 2005

, fame overwhelms him and is usually saturated with people.

Even so, with a little patience, or better, going up the path as much as possible (most tourists stay in the first 500 meters) you will be able to find a space to take the obligatory solo photo.

'Torii' at the Fushimi Inari Shinto Shrine near Kyoto.

PACO NADAL

Then, back to the city center and on the way to Arashiyama, another essential: the Kinkaku-ji or Golden Pavilion.

Here you will have to use your elbows to make a hole in the viewpoint where the most desired photo is.

But it is that the Kinkaku is the most of the most in Kyoto.

And as soon as you see it you will understand why: the villa for rest ordered to be built by the

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1397, and transformed into a Zen temple upon his death, offers the most harmonious image in all of Japan.

The entire exterior is covered in gold leaf, while a delicate garden with pine trees and a pond with islands and rocks, in which the pavilion is reflected as in a mirror, completes the scene.

In the fall, when the maples along the shoreline turn an incredible red, the view is jaw-dropping.

Unfortunately, although it was spared from World War II bombing, in 1957 an alienated Buddhist novice set it on fire, so what we see is a reconstruction.

A historical fact that the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima recreates in one of his most famous works,

(1956).

The bamboo forest of Arashiyama, in one of the two mountains of Kyoto.PACO NADAL

Nearby is the most visited (but not the best) of the Arashiyama slope: the bamboo forest.

One imagines a huge, magical and lonely forest.

But in reality it is a path paved with large specimens of bamboo on both sides, which an everlasting crowd takes away all traces of charm.

Even so, with patience, you can also have a cool selfie without many people, and the neighborhood that surrounds the forest is very interesting and has many traditional places to eat.

A little on the run, I would give to visit Nijō, the imperial castle in the center of Kyoto, in the afternoon (it closes at 4:00 p.m.).

Another world heritage and the best example that we have left of a civil residence from the

era .

The complex of palaces, walls and gardens occupies an entire block and is preserved as it was when the warlords exercised power from this place in the Edo era.

It is very worth it.

Kyoto tower during the last lunar eclipse.

PACO NADAL

It would end another long day by changing the registry.

We already have a good dose of ancient temples and we want to see something of modernity.

Kyoto Station is an excellent example of avant-garde architecture.

It was designed by the Japanese architect Hiroshi Hara and inaugurated in 1997. It is 70 meters high and has an interior of open volumes with several upper corridors from which one has a good view of the Kyoto Tower and the rest of the city.

In its basement and in the surroundings there are endless restaurants where you can end these intense 48 hours with a good dinner based on

,

,

or a delicious

with Kobe meat.

You can also follow

on Spotify, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

And listen to him every Friday, at 7:40 p.m., with Carles Francino on 'La Ventana', on the SER channel.

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